But when the Oconomowoc resident and Kettle Moraine High School graduate reached her teen years, something new sparked her interest.

"I was not by any means an athletic child," Guerra said. "My teenage years were kind of rough. I think it was sixth grade when they took you in the weight room for the first time. I couldn't do any of the ball sports, and I couldn't run. But I was like, 'This I could do.' It was just something that was a natural fit for me. I have always strength trained in some way, shape or form basically from that time on."

Today, Guerra is a personal trainer whose website, alchemy-fitness.com, helps people with exercise and nutritional plans.

"I will coach people that live on the other side of the state who I have never met face-to-face through video calls," said Guerra, who also works as a part-time trainer at the YMCA at Pabst Farms. "I'll go through their whole history, their goals, their habits, things they already eat, what kind of food is accessible. ... That's kind of what I love to do."

The last few years she has taken to the sport of bodybuilding.

In early November, Guerra, 38, won an amateur competition outside of St. Louis, Missouri to earn professional status in the sport.

"My first time on stage was a little more unnerving, mostly because it was unfamiliar," said Guerra, who is in her second season of bodybuilding. "But I've been a competitor so long, I don't typically have that sense of nervousness or pressure anymore."

Lindsay Guerra (left), recently won a national bodybuilding competition in St. Louis.(Photo11: Submitted)

The mother of five was a little hesitant to try the sport at first.

"I have daughters, and a lot of my focus in sports had to do with female empowerment," Guerra said. "I was a bit averse at first to the idea of posing on stage in a sparkling bikini and heels."

Guerra typically spends six months to prepare for a bodybuilding competition. During a competition, each competitor is judged on their physique and how they present their technique.

"The posing is the art of it," Guerra said. "The person with the best physique does not always win because they don't know how to pose right."

To improve her posing, Guerra hired a coach to help with her technique.

Before bodybuilding

Guerra took up mountain bike racing when she was 20. Over the course of 10 years, Guerra had five children, but still managed to find time to train and compete in the Wisconsin Off Road Series.

"I put a lot of miles in on an indoor trainer at 5 a.m. before they woke up," Guerra said. "Most of my competitors had much more time to practice navigating the trails than I did. I had to be very efficient. A lot of them just had more time to go out there and ride. I would go out there and just drill myself on technical skills."

But when Guerra was in her mid-30s, she suffered the second of two severe concussions while cycling.

"That kind of put an end to my cycling career," Guerra said. "I couldn't do anything that would risk a hit to the head anymore."

Lindsay Guerra, an Oconomowoc resident, recently won a national bodybuilding competition in St. Louis.(Photo11: Submitted)

The future

Bodybuilding competitions offer cash prizes and the chance to be sponsored. Guerra, who has competed in four bodybuilding contests, isn't currently sponsored but hopes to be at some point.

"One of the things I encountered as I entered the sport was having to come up against the belief that the sport is just vain," Guerra said. "People love, enjoy and are fascinated by things that are beautiful. ... A strong, healthy body is a beautiful body. The beauty of the human body has inspired art and poetry throughout the ages. It is the vehicle by which we experience all the other things we enjoy and pursue in life.

Kendall Kontranowski, 10, of Delafield, takes a selfie with her mom Kristin during the annual Delafield Tree Lighting event on Friday, Nov. 16, 2018. The event, hosted by the City of Delafield Tourism, featured live music, free cookies, hot cocoa and more. Scott Ash/Now News Group

A flag reflects on the bell of a horn as the 132nd Wisconsin Army National Guard Band performs at the seventh annual Operation Honor: A Salute to Veterans in Waukesha on Saturday, Nov. 10, 2018. Scott Ash/Now News Group

Catholic Memorial sets up for a kickoff in a swirl of snow during WIAA Division 3 Level 4 play against New Berlin Eisenhower Nov. 9 at Kettle Moraine. The Crusaders defeated the Lions, 41-14, to punch their ticket to the state title game. C.T. Kruger/Now News Group

Homestead's bench empties as the final seconds tick down in the Highlanders' 51-14 victory over Brookfield Central in the Division 2 state championship game at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison on Nov. 16, 2018. C.T. Kruger/Now News Group

Delafield's Clock Tower Square is filled with color during the annual Delafield Tree Lighting event on Friday, Nov. 16, 2018. The event, hosted by the City of Delafield Tourism, featured live music, free cookies, hot cocoa and more. Scott Ash/Now News Group

Runner and walkers pause for the Star Spangled Banner before the start of the Kelly Johnson Foundation's first Turkey Trot 5K Run/Walk at Mitchell Park on Nov. 24. The Foundation helps make college more affordable for hard working students. C.T. Kruger/Now News Group

Maddie (right) and Charlie Steffenhagen wait for thousands of lights to illuminate and for Santa to arrive as part of Greendale's annual Tree Lighting in front of Village Hall on Nov. 23. C.T. Kruger/Now News Group

New Berlin Eisenhower sophomore Adam Joda reaches for the ball during the WIAA Division 2 state championship match against Oregon on Saturday at Uihlein Soccer Park in Milwaukee. Scott Ash/Now News Group

Allison Young and Chris Henley (right) watch the first South Milwaukee Lions Club Lighted Christmas Parade roll along 15th Avenue near City Hall on Nov. 24 that followed the Old Fashioned Christmas festivities at City Hall. C.T. Kruger/Now News Group

Campbell Young works on a design for a bridge that she and siblings Rhett and Adeline would build using newspaper, yard and pipe cleaners to span a tub during a STEAM - science, technology, engineering, art and math - program at the Menomonee Falls Library on Nov. 14. C.T. Kruger/Now News Group

Nicolet junior Jalen Johnson rises for a dunk during a practice on Nov. 19. Johnson is one of nation's top-ranked players in the Class of 2020. He transferred from Sun Prairie at the start of the school year. Curt Hogg/Now News Group

Utezi Kalunbula, 6, mans his booth offering triangle games during the Cloud 9 Workshop's Kidpreneur Fair that featured 15 children in grades 1 through 5 selling products they created. C.T. Kruger/Now News Group

Pam Behrend transfers turkey into a chaffing dish pan for serving to an anticipated 400 diners at the Christ the King Lutheran Church's seventh annual Thanksgiving Gathering on Nov. 21. C.T. Kruger/Now News Group

Village of Fox Point employees provide waste collection services from residents' driveways, along with yard waste collection and roadside leaf removal in the fall. Recycling collection is contracted out to a company. C.T. Kruger/Now News Group

A child's teepee in a second floor bedroom at the 26th annual Christmas Fantasy House with 18 rooms decorated by more than 16 area decorators for benefit Ronald McDonald House Charities Eastern Wisconsin. The Fantasy house will be open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 9, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Nov. 10 and 11. Parking and shuttle to the House is at Ridgewood Baptist Church, 2720 Lilly Road, Brookfield. Tickets are $20 at the door. C.T. Kruger/Now News Group

Senior Trang Mau checks a box before sealing it for the Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child project. Members of the Sussex Hamilton Junior Optimist International club packed shoebox-sized containers with toys, clothing, personal care and other items on Nov. 7 as part of a service project with the Sussex/Lisbon/Lannon Optimist Club. C.T. Kruger/Now News Group

Nicolet's Kobe Johnson rises up for a layup over Sonny Phinisee during practice on Nov. 19. Johnson, along with his older brother, Jalen, transferred from Sun Prairie at the beginning of the school year. Curt Hogg/Now News Group

The Cedarburg Civic Band performs during Cedarburg's annual tree lighting ceremony at the Community Center on Monday, Nov. 26, 2018. The event, hosted by Cedarburg Chamber of Commerce, features make-and-take crafts, cookies, cider, music, caroling and a visit from Santa to light the tree. Scott Ash/Now News Group

Acupuncture needles are placed in Elba Rodriquez's forehead in a point that calms the body, and in the ears to balance the body's four planes by Acupuncturist Vashir Xiong in the Aurora West Allis Medical Center emergency department on Nov. 20. C.T. Kruger/Now News Group

Marquette running back Daeleon Brown-Williams (12) is stopped by Muskego defenders at the goal line on forth down in the third quarter during the WIAA Division 1 Level 4 playoff game on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018. Scott Ash/Now News Group

Milwaukee band Ocean Rush performs during the second annual "Lighting of The Corners" in Brookfield on Saturday, Nov. 17, 2018. The event features live music, photos with reindeer, holiday crafts, a visit from Santa and the Winter Princesses, and the lighting of a 30-foot tree. Scott Ash/Now News Group

Waukesha West sophomore Anna Holland (4) jumps for joy as the Wolverines celebrate their quarterfinal win over Arrowhead at the WIAA state girls volleyball tournament on Thursday, Nov. 1. Curt Hogg/Now News Group

Six-year-old Hadley Andrew of Delafield takes a closer look at an ornament during the annual Delafield Tree Lighting event on Friday, Nov. 16, 2018. The event, hosted by the City of Delafield Tourism, featured live music, free cookies, hot cocoa and more. Scott Ash/Now News Group

Mitchel Griep of CenterPointe Boat Services hands off a flat of foodstuffs to Karen Semrad from a boat used to transport a major food donation to the Pewaukee Food Pantry at Gethsemane United Methodist Church on Nov. 21. CenterPointe collected donations from customers and transported a collection by Pewaukee's Asa Clark Middle School that the students had presorted by type and date. C.T. Kruger/Now News Group

Volunteer Myrna Ebling of Cedarburg serves up a delicious bowl of soup during the Empty Bowls fundraising event at the Ozaukee Pavilion in Cedarburg on Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018. Proceeds from the event will benefit Family Sharing's food pantry and provide 600 Ozaukee County families with Thanksgiving dinners. Scott Ash/Now News Group

Navy Veteran Dick Garvy of Oconomowoc salutes the flag while attending the veterans recognition and remembrance assembly at Oconomowoc High School on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018. The event was organized by OHS student Hans Schiefelbein as he works to become an Eagle Scout. Scott Ash/Now News Group

Pius XI head coach Hansi Herzog hoists the gold ball as his team celebrates winning the the WIAA Division 3 state soccer title with a 3-1 win over McFarland on Saturday at Uihlein Soccer Park in Milwaukee. Scott Ash/Now News Group